


The calm before the storm

by EverytimeIDoSomethingStupid (kingkongkitty)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 12:13:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8624071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingkongkitty/pseuds/EverytimeIDoSomethingStupid
Summary: Written in the critrole reverse bang for the quite frankly incredible art by @dolichomorph





	

Vex’ahlia was polishing her leather armour with a scrap of ragged fabric, spitting on the leather and working the saliva into the pliable armour to clean it of dirt and mud, before rubbing copious amounts of polish into it, buffing the surface with a cleaner, softer rag until it shone like it had when she’d originally bought it years ago.

She methodically worked her way through the pieces, top to bottom, lavishing attention on every last strap and buckle, even polishing the iron accents on them to a shine and buffing out any scratches and scrapes that she could.

It was hard work travelling on the road, and upkeeping her armour had been the last of her worries for the past few months, so now was a good time to sort it out, while the men – well, gnome, goliath, half elf and human – went drinking and the other women were busy too, Keyleth with researching her spells and Pike with tending to the temple under Greyskull Keep.

She rested on Trinket as she placed her leather working rags to one side and picked up a simple but worn sewing kit along with the padded fabric undergarments that she wore under her armour and sighing at the tears in the soft fabric.

The padded areas on the hips, breasts and forearms were going flat, so she started with shaping those, working the leather-like material inside the tunic between her hands to warm it, and then shape it a little better with her fingers, knowing exactly which bits were moulded into the wrong shaped from where they’d dug into her last battle.

She held the tunic to her torso, checking the curves before pulling out a needle and some darning fabric, a pleasant green canvas that would complement the sturdy blue material the garments were made of. She hadn’t been able to find the exact same colour so she’d decided to go for a more aesthetically pleasing choice than a blue that would be two tones off and irritate her to no end.

She worked quickly, calloused fingers from the bowstring of her weapon pushing the sharpened tool through the canvas with ease, and all too soon the task was also done.

With nothing better to do, she began to oil her bow for the umpteemth time running her hands over the carved wood with an easy familiarity as Trinket snored softly, his body rumbling with each deep inhale.

She was so absorbed in the task that a pair of careful fingers tugging the feathered hairpiece from behind her ear startled her, and the half-elven ranger spun around in surprise to come face to face with Keyleth. The druid was traveling barefoot and had snuck behind the two of them with a stealthiness that she must have picked up from Vax.

“Sorry Vex! I didn’t mean to startle you!” The druid’s face was apologetic, the point of her chin softening with an apologetic smile.

“You doing ok Keyleth?” Vex looked at her, eyes questioning. “I thought you had druid-y things to do?”

Keyleth shrugged. “I’ve finished what I needed to do, so I thought I’d check up on you.”

Vex’s eyebrow quirked with intrigue. Surely her brother hadn’t asked the half elf to keep an eye on her while he went drinking.

“Why? This isn’t Vax’s doing is it?”

With a smile the auburn haired girl shook her head, laughter bright as her hand cupped Vex’s chin, smoothing over the skin. “You look stressed. I thought I’d see how you were doing.” Keyleth looked around the room, at the piles of polished armour, eyebrows raising in surprise at how productive Vex had been in the scant few hours she’d been left alone.

In retaliation Vex shrugged. She’d had work to do and it was better to get everything done sooner. As her shoulders shifted Trinket let out a whine, leaning over and licking a wet stripe up her cheek, salmon scented breath wafting over her until she pushed the bear away with a smile, scratching his shoulder just how he liked it until the mournful look left his face.

“Anything I can do to help?” Keyleth had been watching with an affectionate smile, her fingertips barely brushing through the coarse fur covering Trinket, scratching against the grain as the bear whined happily.

“Some company would be nice.” Vex offered with a smile.

Keyleth sat down, Vex slipping around behind her and hugging the druid for a few minutes, feeling her body heat leech through the overlapping leather scales of her armour. After a few minutes she pulled back and began to tug at Keyleth’s head piece, slipping the locks of auburn hair out of the hair combs that kept the crown steadily in place.

It took a little maneuvering but the crown did slip off eventually, Vex placed it to one side with a reverence deserving of such a magical item that meant so much to the druid. Vex began to run her fingers through her hair, pulling out any leaves and twigs that’d been caught in the druid’s flowing locks as she’d run around the forest outside of Greyskull , practicing a few new spells where they couldn’t go wrong and affect anyone in Emon.

Fortunately the lush green vegetation stuck out against the bright locks and all too soon Keyleth’s hair was tangle free. Vex wrapped the locks in her hands, twisting and pulling them into a simple yet pretty braid that complimented the vibrant locks, but it still looked a little plain.

Vex looked at the plait critically as she tied it off, pulling the strands apart to give the braid a softer look.

“Keyleth, could you druidcraft some white roses or something similar?”

With a nod the druid began to chant under her breath, a few simple white blooms appearing in her hands, small tendrils of vines creeping out and wrapping around her fingers.

“Thanks.” the ranger leant forwards, taking them before placing them in the plot, weaving the vines through Keyleth’s hair until they held firm, giving the braid a more whimsical look that suited the naïve, optimistic druid perfectly.

Happy with the way it looked from the back, Vex crawled around and began to tug at the hair framing Keyleth’s face, curling a few locks locks and placing the smallest of the blooms behind one ear, before carefully picking up her headpiece and settling it back on Keyleth’s head, making sure all the combs had dug in without hurting her scalp.

She gave a satisfied nod at her handiwork, surprised when Keyleth gestured for her to turn around and began to undo her ragged plait that had been carelessly slung over one shoulder. Vex tipped her head back happily, eyes glancing towards the door, smile breaking across her face at the sight of Pike stood there, a radiant glow to her, her face split into two with a happy grin.

Vex patted the floor in front of her and the gnome sprinted over, setting down quickly, tipping her head back as Vex reached for the pins holding the silvery hair in place. She pulled the many pins out before starting to unwind the coil of hair looped around Pike’s head, surprised at how much hair the gnome managed to keep in such a tidy hairstyle.

She’d never really seen Pike’s hair down, having a rough idea of it’s length when an occasional lock blew out of her braided bun mid battle, or from the impossibly long strands of hair that could be found around Greyskull on occasion, but still, Pike's hair down in full was a sight to behold, pooling on the floor like a waterfall of liquid silver.

She smoothed her fingers through the locks spilling down Pike’s back, working tangles out methodically until it gleamed like one of the many platinum pieces that filled her coin pouch. Pike sighed happily, her head tilted back at the soft tugging as Vex started to plait the hair at her hairline, making a series of tiny French plaits, smoothing them out once they were done, giving the normally straight hair a series of tiny kinks.

Behind her Keyleth was twisting her hair up into small curls, holding them up and twisting the soft locks into makeshift ringlets before tugging the textured locks into a series of small plaits radiating from the crown of her head, mingling with her straight, dark hair, as she started to weave the whole lot into a larger plait that hung straight down her back, the weight of it strange after being so used to keeping all her hair to one shoulder.

As the two of them worked Trinket began to nudge at Pike’s hand, taking her tiny fingers into his maw and licking them while the small gnome giggled.

“Hello buddy.” Pike reclaimed her hand and took the bear’s cheeks, squishing them just how he liked it as she kissed his nose, lavishing affection on him, and by the way Trinket’s tongue was lolling out of the side of his mouth he was enjoying himself very much.

With a tinkling laugh Pike moved her hands further down the bears neck, giggling when he flopped to the ground, ecstatic with the attention. Vex prodded him with her foot affectionately, digging her bare toes into his shoulder muscle just the way he liked it as she finished of the braid in Pike’s hair, tying it off before pulling the gnome into a hug, Pike’s soft curves making her the perfect little spoon.

Keyleth leant forwards, wrapping her arms around the two of them, and the three of them relaxed, happy and secure at home with their guard bear at their feet.


End file.
